Wybie
by ItWasMagic
Summary: Coraline in Wybie's point of view. This is for all of your Wybie fans out there. Here you go! Something to keep your fandom kind of controlled.
1. The New Kid

Wybie didn't fancy doing chores much. It just... was boring! Not fun at all. He'd rather be riding his bike and finding sights that he'd never seen before. He didn't mind helping his grandmother out, he just minded having to do the dishes. Or laundry. Usually he'd help out in a snap, but today was different.

It looked like it was going to rain and that was his favorite kind of weather. He loved riding in it, it made him feel like a rebel. Also, it was a very exciting day. There was someone moving into the Pink Palace apartments... and this family had a kid! One his age, too! He smiled at the thoughts of what could come to be with a new friend living right down the road. They could play together very easily and probably become inseparable.

Before his grandma could tell him to stay and clean up his room, which was on the to-do list today, he ran out of the house and hopped onto his bike. He rode off, his mind set on the goal to meet this mysterious stranger. Riding away, a million thoughts were going through his head about them. Would they be nice? Would they have curly hair like him? What if they liked to ride bikes too? What if it was a girl?!

He was even more excited now. Wybie was riding towards the Pink Palace when he heard a voice coming from below and stopped. Below him was a girl, maybe a year older than him. She had bright blue hair and bright yellow raincoat on. A piece of an red mini-skirt was peeking out from under it. She had in her hands a branch that looked like it would be perfect for a slingshot, being in the shape of a Y and all. Her attention was on a small stump, one Wybie sat on in thought a whole lot. He would imitate the thinker. The cat was perched upon. It was his cat. Well, kind of his cat anyway.

"...Not talking, huh?" _She talked to cats? That's... That's totally sane._ "Magic dowser... Magic dowser... Show me... THE WELL!"

Wybie now realized what the stick was for! Was she a water witch? Dowsing rods are only used by those to find water by them... That's what he thought, at least. His mind thought of something else and he smiled, knowing he could scare her. That would make good conversation to begin with. He blew the air horn that was on his bike, pulled down his skeleton mask that he made himself, and popped a wheelie. The girl spun around at the sound and a look of terror was on her face.

He charged down the hill, moving closer and closer. She screamed and the thunder rumbled in the background, adding to the dramatic effect and making it even more terrifying.

He'd finally reached her. "GET AWAY FROM ME!" She tried to hit Wybie with her slingshot stick, but that didn't work. He grabbed it from her and she fell backwards into the slimy mud from the force. _Well, at least she had her raincoat on. _

Wybie parked his bike beside the stump and jumped onto the log. He used his mask to get a better look at the new girl. The only thing new he noticed was she looked scared to death, had tons of freckles, and deep brown eyes. Didn't look much like a water witch to him.

After lifting his mask, he studied the dowsing rod in his hand.

"Oh... Uh, lemme guess. You're from Texas or Utah, some place dried out and baron right?" Her facial expression changed from scared to annoyed. "I've heard about water witching before, but it doesn't make sense. I mean, it's an ordinary branch." Actually, it wasn't he had noticed. It was poison oak but he had gloves on, so it wouldn't bother him much.

"It's a dowsing rod!" She pointed out and hit his shin. _OW! That's going to leave a bruise in the morning!_The dowsing rod jumped out of his arms as he jumped and she lept up to catch it.

"And I don't like being stalked! Not by psycho nerds or their cats!" She tilted her head to the side to mimic the cat who did that quite often. _Well, she seemed nice..._

"H-He's not my cat. He's kind of feral. You know, wild? O-Of course, I do feed him every night," Wybie petted the pretty black cat ",and sometimes he'll come by my window and leave my little dead things!"

She groaned. "Look. I'm from Pontiac." She said, sounding rather mad.

Wybie gave her a face of confusion. _Where in the world is that?_

"Huh?"

"Michigan? And if I'm a water witch, then where's the secret well?" She stomped on the ground for effect, mud slashing onto her yellow boots.

She was standing in the circle of mushrooms that had coincidentally grown into a circle around the well. He was rather surprised that she didn't notice the mushroom circle or that the ground shook under her feet. "Y-you stomp to hard and you'll fall in it!"

"Oh!" She jumped back in suprise. Wybie got down from his log-throne and started to dig into the mud that covered the secret well. That wasn't to bad thanks to the gloves that his grandma had given him for his tenth birthday. They were black and had skeleton hands on them. They were his favorite part of his outfit.

The boards of the well-top shown and he pointed at it. "See?" He knocked on it to show her how deep it was. He grabbed a rather large stick and put it in the well, to lift the boards up. They were really heavy. "Supposed to be so deep if you fell to the bottom and looked up," he stepped on the stick which lifted the top up and uncovered more of the top ",you'd see a sky full of stars in the middle of the day." He remembered the old story his grandpa use to tell him before smoking got the best of him.

"Huh." She moved closer, got down on one knee and started looking at it. Wybie thought he'd change the subject and saw the faded pink house in the distance.

"Suprised she let you move in. My grandma, she owns the pink palace. Won't rent to people with kids."

"What do you mean?" The girl stood up straight and gave him a look to kill.

_Remember what grandma said. Don't. Tell. _"W-w-we'll I'm not supposed to talk about it." His stutter started to show around her. He'd changed the subject **again.**He didn't know her name! That was something good to talk about. "I'm Wybie." He held out a gloved hand towards her, giving her a warm greeting smile. "Wybie Lovat."

She took it. "Wybie...?" She stared akwardly at his hand and he shook hers.

"Short for Wybourne," he walked towards the cat after letting go, "not my idea of course. What'd you get saddled with?" He looked back at her, she was rubbing mud off of her hand onto her raincoat.

"I wasn't saddled with anything! It's Coraline." The cat passed in front of Wybie and he focused his attention on it, not paying much attention to her.

"Caroline what?"

"CORALINE. Coraline Jones." She stomped her foot again.

"Hmm. It's not real scientific, but I heard an ordinary name like Caroline can lead people to have ordinary expectations about a person." He quoted what he had read in one of his monthly scientific magazines and pet the cat.

She groaned at him. _What'd I do?_

A soft voice filled the air. _"Wybourne..."_

The cats eyes got wide. Grandma found out he'd skipped out on chores! Maybe Caroline didn't hear...

"I think I heard someone calling you, Wybourne." She spat out his name. _She did hear! Crap on a stick._

"W-w-what?" Wybie stood up, and the leaning cat fell over into the mud. "I-I didn't hear anything."

"Oh, I DEFINATLY heard someone, Why-Were-You-Born." She walked closer, her eyes squinted at him, giving out his new nickname.

The voice sounded again, along with the ring of a triangle. _"Wybourne!"_

"Grandma..." _I'm coming! _He nervously laughed at the new girl, Caroline, and she gave him a kind of mad look. Maybe he'd just call her by her last name, Jones... Jonesy sounded better in his mind, though.

He picked up his bike and mask. "Well, it's great to meet a Michigan water witch. But, I'd wear gloves next time." He raised up his hands, showing off his.

"Why?" Another know-it-all-look.

"Because that dowsing rod of yours... Uhh... It's poison oak."

Her brown eyes got wide and she dropped the stick. She jumped back from the rod and started wiping her hands on her raincoat. _That's not going to help it much at all._ He rode off towards his house, taking the long route. Finally, it started to rain on him.


	2. A doll?

**This is a joint fanfiction. So, Ms. Janna is going to write the even chapters  
And I'm going to write the odd chapters.  
Got it? Good.**

**Reply to reviews time =]**

Gatomon Fan 7:  
**I'm sorry to hear you're not a Wybie fan... D: Maybe after meeting a few fangirls, we'll pull you over to the Wybie side.  
...We've got cookies.**

Queen Coraline of Randomness:  
**Thank you so much for the support! You review a whole lot of stories and deserve reviews yourself. So, people, CHECK HER OUT. But not in that way.**

Kiss of the Breeze:  
**I have to admit, your review made my day. ^-^ I'm glad that you're truthful in them and that that's what you really think. That's the whole point of this story, to let people know what was going through Wybie's head when Coraline was battling metal spiders. 'Cause I've always wondered: "What would it be like if they made a movie about Wybie instead?" 'Cause I'm a huge Wybie fan. **

* * *

Once Wybie reached home, he hopped off his bike and parked it in his what he called it a shed. It was so small, his gramma called it a shack. What's the difference though?

After he did that, he started walking to his house. He was chuckling slightly to himself. That blue-haired girl... Caroline or his new name for her, Jonesy. How could she not notice that she was using poison oak as a "dowsing rod?" Her hand's not gonna look so good in a couple hours.

Wybie stopped suddenly, hearing a small meow, and turned around to see the cat trotting up to him. He smiled as it snaked around his legs. "Followed me home huh little guy?"  
The cat just looked up at him with those big, blue orbs and blinked.

The boy continued to walk home, the cat by his side, and his mind went back to was... Odd. Very. Why did she dye her hair blue? What color would her hair be if she didn't dye it? Did she like exploring and adventure as much as he did? He'd have to ask her when he met her again. IF he did. _She didn't seem to like me much_... He thought. But she's a girl! They were like... Aliens. Weird and he didn't have a clue to approach it.

His gramma's voice broke into his thoughts. "Wybourne, where have you been?" She asked, her hands on her hips. Wybie looked up at his gramma and smiled nervously.

"I-I was just..." He tried to think up a good excuse. "Riding to the w-well. I thought I left something there yesterday."

If he'd told her about scaring the new girl to death, she'd probably make him do extra chores. Or make him stay inside. Wybie's grandmother didn't seem to believe that, but after a couple seconds, she seemed to buy it.

"Okay, but you still have to do your chores young man." She informed him.

Oh joy. Chores. She has a memory like an elephant!

Wybie sighed as he walked inside his house.

"Okay gramma," He said as the cat followed him and hopped inside.

"I want you to go clean your room. I need to wash that filthy coat of yours." His gramma said as she shuffled inside too.

Double joy!

Wybie reluctantly took off his coat and handed it to his grandmother, rubbing his arm awkwardly. He felt so naked right now. Now he was wearing just his white undershirt and grass-stained blue jeans. His gramma shook her head when she saw all the mud that was splattered on Wybie's coat.

"How in the world do you get so dirty when you're only outside for a couple minutes?" She said, smiling a bit. "Now go up and clean that room. It looks like a bomb hit it."

"Yes gramma," Wybie walked upstairs and into his room as the cat hopped up on his bed and started cleaning itself with it's tongue.

Wybie stared in dismay at his room, which had motorcycle magazines strewn all over the floor, clothes scattered around and there was even a trash can with a bunch of crumpled up papers lying around it.

_Home sweet home._

The boy sighed, kicking off his too-big-for-his-feet shoes and starting on his room. It took forever to get everything where it should. He tried to stuff some things under the bed but, he found out that nothing else would fit. He had done the same thing already. Now the underside of his bed needed to be cleaned out too! Wybie ran a hand down his face.

"Why does my room have to be so big?! Why do I own all of this stuff?!" He mumbled. He glanced at the cat, who was watching in amusment as Wybie talked to himself.

"I bet you're enjoying this, aren't you?" Wybie said. _Wow. Now I'M talking to cats._ The cat meowed as he continued to clean up his room. He started picking out the things that were under his bed, and found a scarf.

"Huh. I guess this is grandma's... I sure don't own a scarf." He grabbed the soft, sparkly piece of fabric and took it upstairs to the attic. One of his favorite places.

After he had pulled the string down, releasing the steps, he climbed up and looked around. The room was covered with cobwebs and there was a small, circular window on the side of the wall. Whenever lightning flashed, it shown through the window, making the room light up.

Making it look almost haunted. Even though Wybie liked to be up here, something didn't feel... right. It felt... creepy.

Wybie walked over to the small trunk in the corner and opened it up, coughing at the dust that flew into the this was a very old trunk or gramma was a very old lady. He threw the scarf down in it and the trunk started to seem really interesting.

He searched around in it and found everything from old newspapers with weird headlines to pictures of his gramma when she was a child. Even when the Pink Palace still looked cool! And well... pink!

When he was digging around some more, his finger brushed something round and... was it plastic? It was small though. Wybie picked it up and gasped at what he saw. The thing was a doll. With blue hair... a yellow raincoat... and swampers?!

It was Jonesy! In doll form! Except one minor detail.

It had buttons for eyes.

He might as well give it to the real owner. It was obvious hers.

Wybie took some of the old newspapers and wrapped the doll up. He then walked back into his room and grabbed a pencil and a small piece of paper and wrote the girl a message in his untidy handwriting:

Hey Jonesy,  
Look what I found in gramma's trunk.  
Look familiar?  
Wybie.

The curly-haired boy smiled as he taped the note to the wrapped-up doll. The cat was still sitting on his bed and when it saw the newspapers, it hissed.

"Hey, calm down boy!" Wybie said,staring at the doll that the cat had hissed at. "What's wrong? I'm just gonna give it to Jonesy. It IS her's. I mean... It LOOKS like her's...."

Still talking to cats.

_Shows how sane I REALLY am._

It was still raining outside and with his coat being in the washer, Wybie had to ride to the Pink Palace without a jacket. The boy pulled up to the old building and hopped off his bike.

He ran to the porch, rang the doorbell, set the wrapped-up doll down, and jumped back onto his bike, pedaling as fast as he could. _If gramma finds out about this,I'm dead meat!_

His gramma always told him to never go into, or near, the Pink Palace. It was least that's what she said.

Wybie made it to his house without getting caught by his gramma and walked back up to his now clean cat was curled up on his bed, asleep,by the looks of it.

"Wybourne!" His gramma called, making Wybie jerk his head towards the door.

"Yes gramma?!" He called back.

"When you're done with your room,please go take a shower."

"Okay gram!"

Wybie went to go take a shower. After his shower, he ate dinner and fed the cat, then he went upstairs to go to bed.

The boy changed into his pajamas: blue PJ pants and his white undershirt. He yawned and crawled into bed. Wybie didn't know where the cat went. After dinner, he had run off into the woods. Probably to get a bird or something.

If he wanted to get up early to go slug hunting, he had better get some sleep. Wybie yawned again and turned off his light.

Wybie closed his eyes and soon drifted off to sleep.


	3. A sign of danger

Wybie left the kitchen, feeling full from breakfast and accomplished. He'd remembered the dream that he had earlier finally. It was a dream where plates, forks and spoons were singing "Be Our Guest" to him. That was weird... He hadn't even thought about Beauty and the Beast since he was three.

He put the black, skeleton gloves that was his comfort blanket back onto his hands and walked into the living room to sit beside his gramma, who was watching The Weather Channel. Why do adults care so much about the weather so much, anyway?

"It's not going to rain today." She said, giving him a update on Ashland's status.

"That's a first."

She nodded and concentrated on the television.

_Maybe I can add onto the collection today..._ He thought to himself. He owned a small "collection" which was really a whole bunch of pictures of him doing very weird things with very weird insects. There was one that was on his list but he hadn't found yet, a banana slug. It was perfect weather for them to be out.

"I'm going out, to meet the new kid." _And get a few pictures._ His grandmother didn't much approve of his collection, so he tried to not talk about it.

"Okay. I'm sure you'll like her. You know it's a girl, right?"

"Yeah, I've heard."

"Maybe she'll end up your girlfriend?"

He blushed and groaned. "N-No! I... I don't like her. Besides, that's crazy. I'm not dating anyone." _Why did she have to say that?_

She laughed at her grandsons expression. "Don't go crazy on me, and most of all don't hurt yourself out there."

"I won't, gramma."

He ran upstairs to his room to grab his coat, his tongs, his camera and his mask and run back down. After running the list through his mind again, he walked out the front door and out to the small shed. He got his homemade bike out and started rolling it out the door though nearly tripped over a small black feline. He frowned at it.

"Are you trying to kill me? Man." _I'm STILL talking to cats? _After jumping on his bike, the cat found a route to his shoulders. "I really wish that you didn't hate having to get your feet wet as much as you do. Cats really aren't fond of water, are they?"

With the hope that he might see Jonesy again, he pedaled to the Pink Palace, surprised he knew the way as well as he did. _Not a single meow from Mr. Grouchy, huh?_ He thought towards the cat. After finally reaching the faded "palace" he started his search around the parameter. Using his mask, he bent down towards the ground and looked through the fog that was starting to form. It wasn't raining, but there's always some kind of weird weather in Oregon.

"Danger...?" He heard a voice say, along with footsteps. He looked up and saw the familiar flamboyant yellow coat and the blue hair, now added with a Japanese School Boy's hat. He turned the crank on the side of his mask, raising up the long snake-like microscope to see her better. It clicked and she turned directions. He ducked into the fog and waited. The young girl ended up jumping past him and he started to follow. Until a eye appeared in his microscope and he was pulled up, his mask being taken off and his eyes meeting her deep, brown eyes.

"Agh!" He said at the surprise.

"Gripe! The village stalker!" She yelled and gave him a punch in the arm.

_What'd I do to deserve that?! _"OW!" He rubbed the new bruise. "I-I wasn't stalking you! We were hunting banana slugs." He smiled.

She gave him a look of utter confusion. "Whaddya mean we?"

As if on cue, the cat lowly meowed. It stuck it's head out of Wybie's long, black coat and climbed up onto his shoulders.

"HA. You're cat's not wild! He's a wuss puss!" She looked satisfied with herself. The cat hissed at the name she'd labeled him with.

"What?" Wybie defended his friend. "He hates to get his feet wet, jeez." He grabbed the mask from her, got the tong out of one of his coat pockets, and resumed his search with the cat placed on his back.

"Wuss Puss..." She mused. He ignored it. _Maybe you're the wuss puss._

"So... That doll. Did you make it look like me?" He'd found a slime trail! _It can't be far off..._

"Oh, no." His voice sounded like a robot behind the welders mask. "I found it that way. It's older than gramma." He stood up to look at her. The cat jumped off of his back and onto the green beetle that Jonesy had arrived in. "Old as this house, probably." He started back on the trail.

"C'mon. Blue hair, my swampers, and raincoat?" _YES. _The slug had slivered in front of him. _Look at the size of this thing! _He picked it up with his tongs. It was gross and slimy! Just the way he liked it but there was no way was he touching that.

"Heyyy! Check out slugzilla!" He put it in front of her face, giving a weird look like it was going to eat her freckled face off.

She didn't look amused. _Not even smile a bit?_ The girl pushed the slug down and out of sight.

"You're just like them." _...I'm like a slug? Is she calling me disgusting?_"Huh?" He looked at his new addition to the collection in bewilderment.

"I meant my parents! They don't listen to me either."

"Uh-huh." _Is all she going to do is complain about her parents? I really need these pictures, woman!_ "You mind?" He shoved his camera towards her and she reluctantly took it.

He let her take pictures of him pretending to eating the slug, have slug snot, let the slug be a monster, and have a slug mustache. The mustache's what got her.

"Ew!" She laughed at him and he exchanged the slug, throwing it back into the fog, for his camera. He hid it in his coat pocket. _I have to remember to get these pictures developed. I hope that she can take a picture like she can dye her hair._

He looked up towards the faded mansion that was in front of them that had passed it's glory years. "Y'know... I've never been inside the Pink Palace." He said, making conversation.

"You're kidding."

"Grandma'd kill me. Thinks it's... dangerous or somethin'."

She questioned the house herself. "Dangerous?"

"Well, she had a twin sister." Wybie started for his bike, getting what he came for. The pictures.

"So?"

"W-When they were kids, grandma's sister disappeared. She says she was... stolen." _Why did I even bring this up? _Memories of trying to talk about it with his grandmother flooded his mind. She always seemed sad and down when she had to talk about it, so he didn't bring it up that much.

"Stolen? Well, what do you think?"

_No one's ever asked me that._ "Uh..." He thought on it a bit. "I-I-I don't know. Maybe she just ran away...?"

A voice was heard from a questionable distance. "Wybourne!"

The cat took it's place on Wybie's back. "Look, I gotta go."

"Wait a minute!" She'd yelled at him, but he was already gone to his house.


	4. The Nightmare

Wybie rode home through the fog, the cat on his shoulders. He thought about the conversation he had with Jonesy.

She didn't seem to believe the story he'd told her about his grandmother's sister. But it was true. One day she was there and the next, she wasn't. Never seen or heard from again.

Wybie didn't REALLY know if she ran away, but even he had his doubts about her being taken. How do you get kidnapped in a place like this?

As the two-story blue house came into view, Wybie hopped off of his bike, letting it fall into the mud. He made a mental note to put it in the shed later.

The cat jumped off Wybie's shoulders, landing nimbly on the ground, and trotting off ouft of sight,into the woods.

"Fine, be that way." Wybie mumbled to the feline. Just use me for transportation...

He walked up the porch and into his house, where Mrs. Lovat was waiting for him. She had her hands on her hips, and a stern look on her face. Wybie raised an eyebrow at her, confused.

"Wybourne, what happened to the doll?"

"W-what doll?" Wybie stuttered. Then it hit him. _Ohh! The little Jonesy_. "Umm...I, uh, gave it...to the new girl," He said shyly.

His grandmother's eyes widened,before she narrowed them. "That was my sister's doll! Why did yo-Wait. Why were you in the attic in the first place?" She asked suspiciously.

"I-I found one of your scarves while cleaning my room!" Wybie defended. "And I... saw the trunk and thought that's where I could put it..." He rubbed his arm awkwardly.

Mrs. Lovat gave him another stern look. "Wybourne Jerimiah Lovat! You know better than to go snooping around in my trunk! Why on Earth did you give that doll to the new girl?!"

Wybie winced at the sound of his full name. "I'm sorry Gramma... But the doll didn't look like your sister! It had blue hair a-and rainboots!"

Mrs. Lovat sighed, shaking her head, she replied, "That was the only thing I have left of my sister Wybourne... Just... go to your room. Please."

Wybie didn't object and silently started walking up the stairs to his room. Before he was halfway up he looked at his grandmother. "I-I'm sorry Gramma..."

Wringing his hands, he made his way into his room, shutting the door behing him.

* * *

That night, Wybie sat on his bed in his white undershirt and blue-striped pajama paints, observing the light purple bruise on his right arm. _Man, Jonesy can leave her mark._ He thought, poking it and then wincing in pain.

Tomorrow, he was going to get the doll back from Jonesy. He had to.

_Gramma won't ever forgive me until I get it..._

He was just about to go to bed when he heard a familiar scratching noise on his bedroom window.

Smiling slightly, Wybie walked over to it and slid the window up, being greeted by a pair of bright blue eyes.

"Hey you," Wybie smiled as the the cat jumped onto his bed, setting what looked like a dead bird onto it with a satisfied look.

Chuckling, Wybie picked the bird up after putting on his gloves, and placed it in a random shoebox. He'd figure out what to do with it later.

"You like bringing me these little dead things huh?" He asked, scratching the cat behind it's ears. It purred in reply.

"Well, I've gotta get some sleep. Gramma's gonna kill me if I don't get her sister's doll back from Jonesy." Yawned Wybie. He shut off the lamp by his bed and laid down, the cat curling up near him.

The dream he had wasn't like anything he had ever dreamed of before.

* * *

He was pinned down on what looked like a table, unable to move his arms or legs. He moved his head up to see his outstretched body. He wasn't wearing his normal attire.  
This coat was just plain black, and these shoes were darker and better than the one's he usually wore.

The next thing he saw sent a chill down his spine and made the hairs on the back of his neck prickle.

It was a woman. Or something that resembled a woman. She had a face as white as a ghost's and she was deathly skinny. Skin and bones.

METAL and bones. And four, skinny, bone-like legs. Almost... spider-like.

Her hands were needles and her white face had cracks in it. He couldn't stop staring at this... monster. That's the only word he could describe it as. It wasn't even a she.  
"It" was the word he could describe her as.

She smiled at him. A sickly smile that revealed pointed teeth. Her voice sounded to sweet to belong to something like her.

"Now,my little Wybie,we can't have you frowning in front of Coraline now,can we? We only want her to be happy."

She slowly made her way to the table he was pinned down on, and held each of her needled-hand's up. One held another needle, and the other held a partly-thin, leather string.

"Time to turn that frown upside down," She smiled maliciously.

* * *

"AHHH!!" Wybie gasped and sat straight up in bed, looking around for the evil creature that was in his nightmare.

He blinked as a pair of blue eyes blinked back.

The cat was sitting at the foot of his bed, it's head cocked slightly to the side.

"N-nightmare..." Wybie breathed,laying back down. He took deep breaths trying to calm himself down. The cat made it's way up to him and licked his hand with it's sandpapery tongue, trying to help calm him.

Wybie thought about the nightmare and that THING that was in it.

How could he dream something like that up?

WHY would he dream something like her up?

And why did it want to make Coraline happy?

Wybie shivered as the words of the creature came back to his mind.

_Let's turn that frown upside down..._


	5. PreCat Lady

After getting little to no sleep the night before, Wybie still felt bad about just giving the doll away easily like that.

And sleepy.

His grandma was mad. That was easy to tell. Why else would she make him eggs and bacon and then just leave the room to watch some gameshow without a word?

So, he made it his mission for the day: Get the doll back.

He was gonna march up to the Pink Palace and not leave until he got it back! Or till lunch. Whichever came first. Jonesy was nice enough to understand he needed it.. Right?

Yeah. And she was also nice enough to bruise your arm, knee and call you a psycho nerd his subconscious told him.

He told it to shut up.

"Gramma...?" He walked towards the couch she was sitting on, complete with a shaggy, ugly, colorful rug underneath, a blanket on top, and a TV that was playing Walker, Texas Ranger.

"Hmm."

"I'm... I'm going over to the Jones' to get that doll back since it means so much to you. Okay?"

She unglued her eyes from Chuck Norris in a cowboy hat to turn around and look at her grandson. Already having his black coat on and everything ready. She flashed a smile. "Good for you. For heavens sake, whatever you do, don't go inside there."

"I know, gramma. You've told me a whole lot before."

"You can never be told something to much." Memories of her sister flooded her mind. Oh, how she missed her. _If only I'd listened._

"Be careful too!"

"I will. Aren't I always?"

"Mhm." _...Aren't I? _

Wybie hadn't seen the cat since last night. He thought about where it could've head off to on his way towards the Pink Palace. Maybe hiding, it was raining after all. After finally reaching his destination, he parked his red tiger-striped bike in the mud and worked his way up the old stairs with a creak. He ringed the doorbell twice. He could hear footsteps from the inside. Jonesy answered the door.

"...so much! You'll neve-" She stopped talking when she saw it was Wybie. He gave her a smile.

_What had happened to her...? _Shed look like shed been in a war of some sort! Her blue hair sticking out all over the place, spider webs all over her black jeans and star-studded blue sweater, and even on her dragon fly hair-clip. _Had she sat in one place to long or become a mummy? _He chose not to say anything as she looked at him from the doorway.

"Oh," she said with a grimace, "The Wybie that talks."

"Huh?" He shot her a funny look and nervously laughing. Everyone talks... Everyone he knew anyway. _Besides babies. They don't count. _"Yeah... Uh... So, you know that... That old doll I-I gave you?" He stuttered out. "Umm," he scratched the back of his neck, trying to get to the point ",My grandma's real mad. Says it was her sisters. The one that disappeared...?"

"You stole that doll, didn't you?!" She pointed at him and said in a stern voice. _Caught. _She could see through him real easily. Wybie defended his case.

"Well, it looked just like you! And I-I figured-,"

She interrupted him. _So much for explaining things_.

"It use to look like this... Pioneer girl!" She put her hands by her face, pretending to be all prissy. "Then, Huck Finn junior! Then this little rascal chick with all these ribbons and braids and..." She twisted her fingers around her head. _That concluded the entertainment portion of the night. _Wybie stared in awe as she came to a realization in the freaked out mind of hers.  
"...Gramma's missing sister!" The crazy chick turned to Wybie. "I think I just met her. C'mon!" She dragged his arm and thanks to her man-like strength, or Wybie's girl-like strength, dragged him inside the forbidden building.

He took a look around the place. A plant on a stand by the door, Pink wallpaper to match the paint on the outside, brown trim, and a long carpet reaching to the other side of the room. It was a nice place, he had to admit. A singe of guilt still overtook him, thinking about his goal.

"Listen, I-I'm really not supposed t- AHHH!" She pulled him into a blue circular room. A mantle place, orange furniture that looked like he could make and a rug right in the middle with a table on top. She dropped him, literally. _I'm actually in the Pink Palace... Awh man, I'm dead. _Caroline's voice interrupted his thoughts.

"She's in there." She pointed to a little door that was hidden behind the light blue wallpaper that he didn't even notice before. There was a black key with a  
top that looked strangely like a button.

"C-can you... Can you unlock it?" He reached for the key. She grabbed his wrist, scaring the bejebsus out of him.

"Not in a million years. But it wouldn't matter! She can't escape without her eyes. None of the ghosts can." He suddenly realized that he wanted to be as far away from the pre-cat-lady as possible.

"Riiiiiighhttt..." He mused as he got his hand out of her grip, a look of surprise written all over her face as he stopped, dropped, and rolled as best as he could to get away. _Looks like those fire lessons from grade-school helped out..._

He mentally slapped himself. He was treating a girl like a fire. Her crazy couldn't spread!

_...Could it?_

"I really need to get that doll." He said, wanting to get out.

"Great! I'd love to get rid of it!" She grabbed his wrist again and led him up to her room.

* * *

It was on the second floor and looked pretty much the same as where hed came in at. Pink wallpaper, mantel place, brown trim. A huge bed that was decorated with oragomi butterflies, or dragon flies, sat in the middle of the room. There was a place off the side where you could sit and look out the window and read or something like that. She wasn't unpacked, he could tell, from the blue sleeping bag that was on her mattress.

"Where are you hiding you little monster?" She scowled. _Is she calling grandma a monster? And little? _She started searching.

"You and gramma been talking...?" Wybie tip-toed into her room. _I'M IN A GIRL'S BEDROOM. This is where she sleeps! _She searched her suitcase, throwing out all kind of different colored clothes.

"The dolls her spy! Its how she watches you, finds out what's wrong with your life." No luck with the suitcase, but she did a great job of messying up her room. G_randma spied on little girls?! To find out what's wrong?! Does she spy on me?_

"The doll... Is my grandma's s-s-spy?" He said, surprised.

"No! The other mother!" She started searching in a little compartment that's under the supposed to be a seat by the window.

"She's got this whole world where everythings better. The food, the garden," she turned around and started walking towards Wybie ",the neighbors." She said sternly, putting emphasis on neighbors and getting uncomfortable close. Close enough to make him shake. _Am I a bad neighbor? Jeez. Sorry, crazy lady._

"But its all a trap!" She pointed at him. He wasn't dumb enough to fall for a trap. Wybie realized how bad he wanted out of this place now... Really. Really. Really. Bad.

"Yeah, uh, I think I heard someone calling me, Jonesy?" He put an ear to her window. Pretending. Lying.

She saw right through. "Don't believe me? You can ask the cat!" She got in his face again.

"The... Cat?' He let his head droop. Well, he knew where the cat was this morning. "I'll-ill just tell grandma," he went across her bed ",that you couldn't find the dol-" a sharp pain was felt in the back of his head. It turned into a dull pain, and put his hands on his head in defense.

"OW!"

_Oh, great. Now she's throwing things._ He turned around, head still hurting, and watched as she took her blue shoe off. Her other foot was missing it. Thanks to  
the power of deduction, he figured the shoe had been thrown at him. _What'd I do?!_

"You're not listening to me!" She had her shoe in hand. Ready to throw. _Isn't that like the worst thing you can do in Iran?_

He'd give her an answer, why he wasn't listening to her. A truthful answer. He rubbed the back of his head some where the pain was.

"That's... Cause... You're... Crazy!" He said, dodging her second shoe and dashing like mad towards the door. Screaming. Freedom. Shed picked up one of them and was chasing after him. _Who knew that I could go down stairs so fast? _He burst through the front door, Caroline on his heels, and grabbed his bike.

"You creep!" She yelled. He turned around. "Crazy!" He had to stop himself from laughing as she fell into a puddle of rain, just having socks on her feet. _Not good on your feet, eh?_  
He grabbed his bike and started riding away.

"Crazy? You're the jerkwad that gave me the doll!" She threw a shoe he didn't even realize she'd picked back up.

He barely heard as he cycled for his life.


	6. A photo's worth a thousand words

Wybie didn't slow his riding until the two-story blue house came into view. He jumped off his bike and let it flop into the mud again. The rain would clean it anyway.

"Whew," Wybie gasped,bending over and placing his hands on his knees,regaining his breath. Once he did,he started for the front door,frowning slightly. So much for getting the doll...

He thought about Jonsey,and what she was rambling on about to him while he was in the Pink Palace.  
That girl is a total nut-job! Why would I ask the cat about the Other Mother's world? Who IS the Other Mother? Her parents need to give her some therapy or somethin'.

Wybie shook some of the rain out of his hair before walking into the house,dissapointed  
Mission failed.

His grandmother was still watching TV. Now it was Deal or No Deal playing on the screen. A lady was screaming as one of the ladies opened the case that contained the million dollars. Poor lady.

Seeing that her grandson was already back,his grandmother turned to him and smiled. "That was fast."

Wybie sighed and plopped down on the couch next to her. "Y-yeah...but I didn't get the doll. Jon-er,the new girl couldn't find it. Sorry gram." His shoulders slumped.

His gramma smiled slightly. "It's alright Wybourne. Here,I have something to show you. Come with me." She stood up and started walking to the attic.

Curious,Wybie followed. He still felt bad about the doll,but the fact that his grandmother forgave him about it made him smile.

Once in the attic,Wybie's gramma dug through the old,dust-covered trunk until she found what she was looking for. "That wasn't the only thing I had left of my sister's,but this might be." She said,pulling out and old photo. She stared at it longingly,if only she could've found her,stopped her.

Glancing at her grandson's blank expression,she handed him the photo. "Here. take a look."

Wybie stared at the black-and-white picture. "I-is this...your sister?" He asked.

His gramma nodded slowly. "Yes,that's her on the right. This was taken before she...dissapeared." The last word came out shaky.

Her sister was clutching something close to her...Wybie squinted to see it in thew dim,attic light.

That's...that's the doll! Jonesy's doll! But...it doesn't look like Jonesy's doll. Except for the eyes...

Even through the photograph,the black eyes of the doll sent a chill down his spine.

Wybie looked over the photo again. They looked exactly alike! They were twins after all. Wybie's eyebrow's rose as he realized something Jonesy had said to him when she was rambling on about who the dolls use to look like: "This,Little Rascal's chick with all these ribbons and braids..."

His grandmother's sister had alot of braids. She also had alot of ribbons.  
She DOES look like one of the girls from "The Little Rascals..."  
Oh my gosh Jonesy isn't crazy.

"Do you think could barrow this for awhile?" He asked his gramma. She nodded.

"Just don't go and give it to the new girl."She said teasingly. Wybie smiled and stored the photo in the inside of his jacket pocket.

"I won't gramma." He replied.

But I will show her. And apologize...Mission two on the way.

That night,Wybie slept perfectly fine,again dreaming of plates and spoons singing Be Our Guest to him with plates of food all around. It would've been nice to sleep through the night,but sadly,that didn't happen.

Around midnight,something pitch black slinked through Wybie's half-opened window in a hurry. It pounced onto his bed and jumped lightly onto his stomach. It started pawing at his nose franticly,mewing.

"Hmm.." Wybie stirred in his sleep. "St-stop it.." He mumbled sleepily, pushing the cat away gently.  
Desperate times call for desperate measures. The cat then licked Wybie's cheek with it's sandpappery tongue. He knew that annoyed him.

"Gah!" Wybie sat up and put a hand to his cheek. "Ugh,you know I hate it when you do that!" He exclaimed,staring into the cat's wide,blue eyes. "What's up you crazy cat?" He asked,yawning.  
He knew the cat wouldn't wake him up for nothing.

It meowed,looking around for something he could use to tell Wybie that Coraline was in trouble. Seeing a blue folder on the floor,the cat jumped off the bed and pawed at it urgently,hoping he'd get the hint.

"Uhh..." Wybie mumbled,trying to figure it out. "You want some...water?" The cat shook it's head.  
Water must have something to do with it...What else is blue? There's the well water...and Jonesy's hair...Jonesy's hair!

"I-is Coraline in...trouble?" Wybie asked the feline. I'm talking to a cat. Again. Maybe I'm the one whose crazy. Too bad he can't talk back.  
But to his surprise,the cat nodded fastly, moving one of it's paws in a circle shape.

The well. Jonesy's at the well. In the middle of the night! It's dangerous out there! What was she thinking!?

Wybie jumped out of bed and threw on his jacket and blue jeans as fast as he could,before sneaking down the stairs and into the kitchen.

He pulled out all of the drawrs,searching for his grandmother's salad he found them,he put them inside his jacket.  
Could come in handy. You never know.

After making sure his grandmother was asleep,Wybie snuck outside,not making a sound. The cat didn't follow.  
Once outside,Wybie ran to his bike and hopped on it, unaware he was about to go on the ride of his life.b


	7. A night to remember

**So, firsts days back at school suck. **

**Coming back to a good fanfic, that's good.=]**

**It's one of meh bestie's first day back [long story why] but she's also the other writer of the fanfic =o **

**And she's writing the next chapter.**

**So. Yeah.**

* * *

Wybie followed the darker than the night figure that was in front of him through the forest. _Man, it's dark..._ He'd tried a whole lot to turn the light that was on his make-shift bike on to see the way, but the cat would just turn and hiss each time he did. So, he just kind of kept the light off and used his mask which helped him see better in the night. He could see the cat, going as fast as his little paws would let him, basically running in front of him. He felt like yelling out "What is it cat? Is Jonesy caught in the well again?" But, as if the cat would respond.

Sooner or later, he ended up losing the cat. He nearly started freaking out, and went over the edge when he heard screaming. And grunting.

He cycled for his life towards the screams and stopped when he noticed the orange polka-dotted flannel pajamas below the hill he was on.

Wybie watched the scene in front of him. Jonesy, who was in a pair of ripped up and very much loved pajamas, was struggling against something. Something was dragging her. In the dark, he couldn't tell what. _Coraline kicking on the ground, being dragged, clawing at your neck, can't be a good thing. Is something choking her..?_ He got out the salad tongs from his coat pocket. _Always be prepared... You never know. Whatever's dragging her, I could scare off... Real easy..._

He didn't waste any time in wondering as he turned on the light that was connceted to his bike, blew his air horn three times and yelled with his tongs in the air. Coraline stopped being dragged and look towards her masked avenger. The light illuminated the scene near the old well and Wybie could see that some metal contraption that resembled a hand dragging holding a piece of thread that moved down to Jonesy's neck. Like, it was dragging her necklace.

_Girls and their jewelry._

Yelling, Wybie cycled down the hill over to the blue-haired girl. Using his salad tongs, he picked up the thing that looks like a hand. _What do I do with it?! _He thought back to something he could do as he cycled back up the hill. He could hear Coraline coughing from the lack of oxygen she'd had. Then, he got an idea. All of his old tools, his old and rusted bolts or broken hammers, [which under Wybie's care, broke. They broke easily too.] he had just cycled over to the old well and threw them in. He could do the same with whatever this was... right?

He started going down, down towards the well, in an attempt to throw it down. He saw Coraline's face, suprised and intriged. Then, all he could see was metal blocking his view.

_I CAN'T SEE A THING! Just, don't go near the well... Don't go ne-_

He felt his bike jerk and Wybie was thrown into the air. _Didn't even see the rock..._ Thanks to gravity, he came flying down. Cursing gravity, he reallized he was hanging on for dear life. Hanging onto the edge of the open well. With a whole lot of darkness behind him. He couldn't see much of anything but the stars above him and the mud from the side of the well. He could see Coraline movig above him, though. Doing something. _I'm gonna die. I'm gonna die. I'm gonna die. Oh god, I'm gonna die._

Wybie started to pull himself up, but he felt a tickle at the bottom of his foot. Looking down to see the hand that was meant to be the only one that went down the well. _Do I look like a ladder to you?!_ He tried to fight it off of him, it was climbing up his body to get to the opening above him. He wanted it off. It eventually jumped over his head and hit his right hand in an effort to push him down the well. He could already feel the blood starting to puddle up around the new hole in his glove. With his left, he held on for dear life at the top of the well. _Suck it up, your'e gonna actually die if you don't! _His left hand started to slip and the hand was in position for another strike to his gloved fingers.

He watched as Coraline put her blue blanket over the hand and rolled away from the well, crushing a mushroom from the fairy ring that was around it. He took that as his chance to get the heck out of there. Thanks to the body strength skills he developed from riding a bike all these years, he was able to pull himself out of the well quickly to see the hand tearing through her blanket. Not having a clue what to do, Coraline stared at it. _How to get rid of it... How to get rid of i- _Wybie's large green eyes spotted a rock, not to heavy but heavy enough to break it. _That'll work. _

He picked it up just in time to hear Coraline screaming as it burst through the blanket, it's intent probably on hurting her. He threw, with all of strength, the rock down on the hand that was ready to rip her to shreds. With a gasp, she looked up to see Wybie who was still trying to get over it all.

_OH MAN, my hand hurts. Why did it want me dead? What was that thing? Why did it want her necklace? Does she think I'm brave? Oh, what'll gramma think about the new holes in my glove? _

Silently, Wybie watched as Coraline took the necklace from around her neck, with a key on it, and wrapped with her blanket the rock that had the hand's parts under it. She tied it up with the piece of string that nearly choked her from before.

Both kids stood over the well and threw down the heavy pile down the dark and endless well. They watched and waited.

_**Splash.**_

That was his cue. Wybie went over to the well's lid and pushed it over the opening, a perfect fit.

_So... Everything she said then... It has to be true._

"I'm... I-I'm really sorry I didn't believe you about all this...," _What's the right word? _"Evil stuff, Coraline." He used her real name for the first time.

She looked up at him, smiling. _She looks like she's been through a war..._ Her orange polka-dotted pajamas had a few rips in them, patches over them, and were muddy. Her blue hair was all over and her neck was red from where the twine had rubbed it the wrong way. She stood up from her place beside the well. "Why did you change your mind?"

_The picture! _"W-well, gramma showed me this picture. A-After I called you crazy." He offered the black and white, taped picture to her. "I-It's her and her sister. Before she dissapeared." Coraline's small hands took the picture and with a smile on her face, she stared at it.

"The sweet ghost girl!"

"_Wybourne!" _A triangle accompained the old, tired voice of his grandma. "Come home!"

He rubbed the back of his neck, thinking what a mess he was going to be in with his grandma. "Oh, man... What am I gonna tell her?"

"Just... bring her by the house tomorrow." Coraline beamed. "We can tell her together."

_Together?! _"We... We can?" Wybie said in disbelief.

"Y'know, I'm glad you decided to stalk me." She punched Wybie in his shoulder.

_Guess I'll have to get use to th... OW. _He rubbed the new bruise and she laughed. He tired to laugh along.

He spotted a black feline in the background. _I can't have all the credit, now can I?_

"It wasn't my idea."

It meowed as Coraline and Wybie turned to face the big-eyed cat. It tilted it's head, like Wybie would. Coraline played along and tilted hers.

_Well, I think that's the most interesting night I'm going to have in a long while. _


	8. Partah

**And this is a sad day. D:**

**The final chapter.**

**...Or not? ? :o**

* * *

The first thing Wybie thought when woke up was: Ow,my hand hurts...What happened last night?

He rubbed his eyes and yawned,throwing off the covers to reveal his right hand,which was throbbing painfully.

He studied his hand,which had been bandaged up by Mrs. Lovat the night before.

Because that stupid hand had to take a swipe at it, Wybie thought. ...The hand!

It all came back to him. After saying goodnight to Jonesy,Wybie had rode home on his bike,which was a little hard,with his hand scratched and the weight of the day catching up with him.

Once home,he told his grandma that he would explain everything tomarrow. (With Coraline's help of course). Mrs. Lovat wasn't concerned about an explanation at the moment. It was her grandson's hand that worried her.

Immediantly,she led him into the kitchen,where she cleaned it up and bandaged it. He had three slim,long,but-not-too-deep scratches in his right hand,just below his knuckles.

Mrs. Lovat also confiscated his torn gloves,promising that she'd sew them back up for him.

While he was flexing and wriggling the fingers on his injured hand,his grandmother demanded why he was out so late.  
"I'll explain everything tomarrow grandma," Wybie had replied with a yawn. "I promise."

It was late,and by the time he had reached his room,Wybie'a eyelids felt like they had weights attached to them. He kicked off his shoes,put on his PJ's, and fell into bed.

He was asleep before his head hit the pillow.

And now Wybie stretched and sat up,glancing around his room. Where'd the cat go? Hmm...I wonder what's for breakfast.

After getting dressed,frowning at the fact that his gloves were in repair,Wybie made his way downstairs and into the kitchen,where a stack of blueberry pancakes was waiting for him.

And so was his grandma.

She looked up from the newspaper she was reading and offered Wybie a smile as he sat down across from her and started on his pancakes.

"Good morning Wybourne."

"Morning gram."

Mrs. Lovat raised an eyebrow. "You know...you said you'd have an explanation for me about last night..." She said,still smiling.

Oh,crap she remembered.

Wybie swallowed a mouth full of pancakes before replying. "I do have an explanation,buuuttt...I can't tell you yet."

"What? Were you doing somethin' you shouldn't be doing out there Wybourne? Were you throwin' more of your doo-dad's down the well?"

"...Kindaa..." Wybie avoided his grandmother's eyes. "We have to go somewhere this afternoon. So I can explain. So WE can explain."

"Who's 'we'?" Mrs. Lovat asked.

Wybie smiled. "You'll see."

Mrs. Lovat sighed. "Okay Wybourne. As long as you explain...I guess you can have these back." His grandmother handed Wybie his two skeleton gloves,which had been sewed up and cleaned off.

"Wow,thanks gramma!" Wybie exclaimed as he pulled the gloves on and smiling. There wasn't a rip or tare in them at all.

Wybie's grandma smiled. "They weren't that hard to sew back up,actually. But what on Earth ripped the right one apart like that? Did that cat do it?"

"No,not him," Wybie shook his head. "Uh..I-it was...something. I'll tell you this afternoon!" He finished his pancakes and ran upstairs before his grandmother could protest.

"Come on gramma!"

"Wybourne,when you're my age,you can only go so fast."

Wybie was pulling gently at his grandma's arm,trying to pull her along the small pathway that led to the Jones' garden.  
He was excited to tell how brave and daring he had been when he saved Jonesy. Maybe SHE thought he was brave...

Wybie shook his head. Ew. Save drooling over girls for never.

His grandma and him walked by the picket sign that said "Pink Palace Apartments," where cat was perched on it,grooming itself with it's tongue.

Wybie smiled up at the feline,which stared back at him and blinked.

Sometimes,I swear that cat can understand what I say...  
The two then made their way down the path until the old,silver garden gate came into view.

"Come on gramma! We're almost there!" Wybie smiled as he tried to pull his granmother along again.

"Wybourne,I know where I'm goin'. I grew up here," She reminded him as he opened the gate and led her inside. Wybie glanced around and saw Mrs. Spink and Forcible,Mr. and Mrs. Jones,Mr. Bobinski,and Jonesy.

Her sapphire hair glittered in the sunlight and she smiled at him. She had a tray with two cups of lemonade in them. One was silver,one was red. Wybie waved and smiled at her.

His granmother spotted the girl with the blue hair and smiled as well. "Oh,hello." She said.

"Welcome Mrs. Lovat!" Coraline made her way towards the two as they made their way towards her. "I'm Coraline Jones. I've got so much to tell you!"

"...And that's when I threw the cat at her and grabbed the snowglobe."

Wybie was sitting on one of the garden's stone walls,snacking on a piece of pizza and sipping his lemonade while he listened to Coraline's story of the Other world.

His mouth hung open,getting ready to take a bite out of his pizza as she explained to them about his grandmother's sister,the Other Wybie,the Other Mother...everything. It sounded like a dream that had turned into a nightmare.

That poor cat. I can't believe she threw him at her!

Once Coraline was done explaining her part of the story,Wybie joined in and they both told his grandma about the hand,the well,and the key.

"Well!" Wybie's grandmother marveled at Coraline. "I can't believe...All those stories that my sister told me all those years ago...They were all real..."

"Wow..." Wybie mumbled,sipping his lemonade. "That sounds crazy Jonesy."

Coraline narrowed her eyes at Wybie,before punching him playfully in the arm,making his fumble to stay ontop of the stone wall. "It's not crazy Wybourne," She told him. "It's REAL."  
She smirked as he regained his balance,catching his lemonade a split second before it fell.

Wybie set his lemonade down and rubbed his arm.  
Another bruise to add to the collection...  
He laughed nervously. "Y-yeah...I guess it IS real," Wybie glanced at his grandmother. "Do you think I can go in the Pink Palace now? Since she's...y'know,dead and everything?"

Mrs. Lovat looked deep in thought for a moment before replying. "I...I suppose so," She said. "But whenever you do go in there,stay away from that door. I don't think she's really gone yet."

Wybie swallowed the rest of his pizza and glanced at the faded old palace.

And for some reason,it still sent a chill down his spine.


End file.
